Tough loss to Utah for Arizona State men’s hoops, but that takes a back seat – Zylan Cheatham’s brother was shot and killed Saturday night. Michelle Gardner has the story in the link, as Cheatham scored 17 points on 4-of-5 3-point shooting in the Sun Devils’ 96-86 loss to Utah Thursday night in Tempe.

During UCLA men’s basketball’s 92-70 win over Stanford, ESPN broadcaster and UCLA legend Bill Walton said he wants Barack Obama to coach the Bruins. Congrats to Murry Bartow for winning his first game as UCLA interim head coach – will it be enough to keep 44 from taking his gig? I think Obama might pass on Walton’s offer, but he is a big hoop head (Yahoo Sports on the link).

Pac-12 women’s basketball resumes action Friday night, and Christopher Kamrani of The Salt Lake Tribune wonders if Utah can keep the magic rolling through conference play. The Utes are 12-0 with wins over two SEC schools and BYU but have an RPI of 56, not a bad number but one you’d expect to be a better with that kind of record. After starting Pac-12 play with a 76-61 win at Colorado, the Utes will have a chance to prove they’re for real in their Pac-12 home opener Friday against No. 22 Arizona State.

The NFL playoffs begin Saturday, and as the Indianapolis Colts get ready to take on the Houston Texans in a wild-card matchup in H-Town, Mike Wells of ESPN gives us a look at Andrew Luck’s “comeback season for the ages.” There were times when Luck thought he might not even be able to return to the field due to his bum right shoulder, but boy did he come back in a major way in 2018.